The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Fbbbdabx 24, 1910. 



jeet. I fully agree that the system 

 would stand a great deal of improve- 

 ment," said a wholesale florist. "The 

 correspondent was talking about the re- 

 tail line only, but might just as well 

 have included the wholesale end of the 

 business. Some of the credits extended 

 by wholesalers are not only ridiculous 

 but work a positive harm to the trade at 

 large. They foster the competition of 

 irresponsible parties, whoso activities 

 make it more difficult for the solid, sub- 

 stantial people in the business to main- 

 tain themselves. For instance, only a 

 few days ago a buyer came to us and 

 wanted to know if we would not extend 

 him the same credit others do. He 

 showed a December statement from one 

 wholesale house running a little over 

 $2,200. We told him we would look him 

 up, and this is what the commercial 

 agency reported: The man stated to 

 them that he had invested in fixtures 

 in three different towns, a total of $450; 

 in the savings bank, $600; making alto- 

 gether $1,050. He said he was owing for 

 flowers on monthly account, of $50, mak- 



ing his net worth $1,000. On this ridic- 

 ulous statement this man is able to get 

 in one house alone $2,200 credit, more 

 than twice as much as he says he is 

 worth. A further feature of the case is 

 that this man is doing a strictly cash 

 busintjss in all three of his stores. 



"In no other line of business would 

 anything like this be considered. Other 

 lines give sixty to ninety days' credit, 

 but at the end of that time a good part 

 of the stock, or similar stock, is on hand, 

 and to get $2,200 credit would require at 

 least several thousands of investment for 

 flxtures. 



"We feel that we have done our part 

 individually to get the credit system on 

 a business basis, but we find little en- 

 couragement. It seems to us that it • 

 would be to the interest of everyone to 

 pay more attention to credits; let the 

 wholesalers set an example for others, 

 not only by being more conservative in 

 extending credit, but by making closer 

 collections and paying their own bills 

 promptly. ' ' 



PACKING FOR SHIPMENT. 



Cutting!. 



Good packing when shipping cuttings 

 or young plants is just as essential as 

 when shipping cut blooms. Your cut- 

 tings may be ever so good when you take 

 them out of the sand, but if they do 

 not reach your customers in good condi- 

 tion, why take the trouble and care to 

 grow good stock? 



A good way of packing cuttings in 

 cold weather is as follows: Have your 

 wrapping paper cut into sheets about 

 10x16. Lay a strip of damp sphagnum 

 in the middle of the sheet, running half- 

 way across from the side nearest you. 

 Each sheet should hold twenty-five cut- 

 tings. Roll into a bundle and, when all 

 the cuttings are turned in, fold in tlie 

 lower end and continue rolling until the 

 end of the slieet is reached, tying se- 

 curely. The bundle should be rolled 

 firmly, so as not to allow any sand which 

 may have clung to the cuttings to injure 

 the roots. 



Line the boxes with several thicknesses 

 of newspaper. Cover the bottom Avith 

 either' excelsior or dry sphagnum. In 

 laying in the bundles begin at one end, 

 laying the root end at the end of the 

 box, and press them firmly, so as to keep 

 them from shifting. Lay the roots of 

 the following row on top of the first 

 row and so on until you reach the end 

 of the box. where, by reversing the bun- 



dles, you will be able to utilize the space 

 in your box to better advantage. 



When the order is packed and there is 

 stUl a little space left, fill in with excel- 

 sior so as to make the contents firm. All 

 boxes should be watched closely to see 

 that they are packed tightly, for the ex- 

 press companies do not care whether they 

 are plants or canned peaches. 



Although the box is lined on the in- 

 side, it is necessary to wrap it again on 

 the outside in case of severe weather. 



The destination should be written on 

 the box as well as on the tag, for some- 

 times the tag becomes mutilated before 

 reaching your customer. Every firm 

 should have a tag with name and ad- 

 dress, also the instructions necessary in 

 regard to perishable plants. 



Young Plants. 



When packing young plants, the same 

 rule should be followed. Wrap each 

 plant separately instead of several to- 

 gether, as this will prevent breakage and 

 they can be packed to better advantage. 

 If your shipment has to go only a short 

 distance, use dry sphagnum, but if they 

 are to be shipped several hundred miles 

 and required to be in the box several 

 days, then you had better use a little 

 damp sphagnum, but be sure not to put 

 it near the foliage. 



The boxes may be lined the same as 

 for the cuttings, and the plants may be 

 packed the same way. Be sure to pack 

 tightly. There should be no chance for 

 the plants to shove together in case the 

 box is stood on end, as is so often done. 

 It is always better not to use too large 

 a box, for a medium sized box will 5- 

 ways carry through better. A good thing 



to do for proper handling is to put 

 handles on the end, and then the expegg. 

 men have no occasion for roUing or o i on 

 ping them. ^ 



Another good way to pack y^ m„ 

 plants is to place them upright in the 

 bottom of the box. Line the box as be- 

 fore. Press the plants tightly toge-iier" 

 and about every fafth row nail in a -iyat 

 to hold the plants firmly. Instead of 

 nailing on a solid lid, nail on slats, so 

 that the expressmen will be able to see 

 that the box is not packed solidly, jje 

 sure of handles. This is a good method 

 for mild weather, for you cannot Mne 

 the box except on the inside. 



W. J. Vesey, Jk. 



ROSES ON SOLID BEDS. 



Can Bride, Bridesmaid and My Marv 

 land roses be grown as profitably iu . 

 solid bed as on raised benches t How 

 should the solid bed be made? For uZ 

 benefit of the small grower who has Z 

 buy all of his soil, will you please sta e 

 how much shredded cattle manure to the 

 yard of soil should be used for rose 

 growing? j^ g"^^ 



nf^\T^ ^^^''i"^'^^ *^^ P°«^b^e exception 

 of My Maryland, can be grown with 

 equal profit either on solid or table 

 benches. My Maryland, however, has 



sdid VncS^"^^ *^ ^° *^ ^««^ - *^« 

 Solid benches are built on many plans. 

 1 he most popular ones are made with ce- 

 ment sides, one and one-half inches thick 

 and from ten to twelve inches deep The 

 bottom of the bench is then filled with 

 rubble to a depth of five inches; on top 

 of that are placed two inches of finer 

 material, such as cinders or gravel, and 

 on top of this the compost. 



The compost should consist of four 

 parts of good fibrous loam, taken from 

 the surface of old pasture land, and one 

 part of decomposed cow manure. When 

 this manure has been shredded it is 



u Tj ^° ^® ™°^® concentrated, and 

 should be used more sparingly, or at the 

 rate of one part of manure to five of soil. 

 A bench prepared in this way and iu- 

 diciously fed by mulching, top-dressing 

 and liquid feeding, will carry the plants 

 profitably for years. Bibes. 



ROSE PLANTS FROM BENCHES. 



In reference to roses from benches, or 

 bench plants, how are they generally re- 

 garded by the trade? I notice that some 

 of the best houses sell them, and yet they 

 are often referred to as trash by writers 

 in the trade papers. I cut back a lot of 

 Killarney, My Maryland, Kaiserin and 

 Richmond from benches, planted them 

 m the field last season and had excellent 

 results. ^^ Q 



Some varieties of roses, such as Kais- 

 erin, Richmond and Killarney, when given 

 proper treatment previous to removinj: 

 from the bench, make good bedding roses 

 in some localities. Proper treatment con 

 sists in preparing the plants by graduallv 

 withholding water for a week or two ano 

 running the house at a reduced tempera- 

 ture. Then they are pruned judiciously, 

 planted in good, rich soil and given one 

 good watering. Keep the surface always 

 well stirred. To have the best success, 

 these operations should be performed 

 early in the season, in April or May. 



Rose growers try to create a market for 

 this class of stock, as it is like finding 

 money when they can dispose of it; other- 

 wise they have to throw it away. When 



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